Near epicenter, American Canyon fared better than Napa or Vallejo in Sunday's quake

For being as close as it was to the epicenter of Sunday's South Napa Earthquake, the city of American Canyon fared remarkably well, city officials said.

"Mostly businesses – Safeway, Walmart and Walgreens – were hurt the worst," City Councilman Mark Joseph said Monday. "Some water lines broke, but there was no structural damage. There was a lot of inventory lost and some cosmetic damage, maybe. A lot of cleanup and chaos-kinds of damage."

Joseph said a number of older homes had some chimney damage, but not much else.

"Our biggest crisis was that we were without power for about 12 hours," Joseph said of his own home. "But that was sort of a camping-out experience. Not really bad. We were really fortunate."

Joseph said he and his fellow council members, especially Mayor Leon Garcia, spent much of Sunday surveying the city for damage and offering help.

"(Garcia) did a great job, going around checking on businesses and reporting back," he said. "We had nowhere near the damage the city of Napa did."

Joseph said he attributes some of this to the city's comparative youth.

"The good news is that so few of our buildings are as old as the ones in the quaint old towns, but the downside is, we don't have many of those quaint old buildings," he said.

American Canyon does have its share of mobile homes, however, and most of those seemed to have survived the quake.

"We had a couple of minor problems; one house had some damage and a couple of residents went to the hospital. One had to have stitches after glass broke on him," Napa Olympia Mobilodge manager Marty Collins said. "But we're in pretty good shape, for what if felt like."

Collins said he was out in the park Monday testing gas lines, which is the biggest fear mobile home park resident advocate Terri Pohrman said.

"The Napa Olympia park has no gas — they shut off all the gas because a home is (partially) down, and the gas lines run under the homes," she said. "It's dangerous."

World Marine Estates manager Peg Marzo said everything and everyone at her park also survived intact.

"I thought it was the rapture and I was left behind," Marzo said. "It felt like a bomb went off and then Godzilla came and shook everything up. Everyone seems OK, though, and there was no real damage. The pool guy came out and checked and everything's OK. Everything's good ... hallelujah."

Besides some mobile home damage, crumbling or broken chimneys and loosened water heaters, the city fared remarkably well, City Manager Dana Shigley said in a report sent to residents.

"We have no reports of structural damage or anyone not able to live in their home," she said. "Also, the fire district reports not a single call for an ambulance to transport someone to the hospital. Great news!"

Besides cleanup and lost inventory in some stores, several businesses in the industrial areas also suffered some product damage, she said.

Napa Valley Unified School District reports that schools were closed Monday, and will close Tuesday, though there was no reported damage. The American Canyon High football teams did not practice on Monday.

"For me personally, I live in Vallejo and we were shook up but we're OK," head coach Ernie Lawson said. "Some of the players were affected by it and that's why we gave them the day off to spend with their families and help them recover a little bit."

City water and wastewater systems are functioning normally and no major leaks or system damage were reported. No major street damage was reported, either, Shigley said.

The city offices are open, but a sign on the county offices in the downstairs part of City Hall, reads: "Closed till further notice. For more info call 253-4511," she said.

Assemblymember Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, whose district includes parts of Napa and Solano counties, described Sunday's temblor as "a wakeup call in more ways than one." She thanked local officials, first responders, emergency medical and hospital personnel, law enforcement, public utilities workers, Napa Red Cross, and everyday citizens "for a well-coordinated response to this serious and unexpected event."

What especially struck American Canyon Police Chief Tracey Stuart, she said, was the way people in town came together in the emergency.

"In the early morning hours after the earthquake, it was great to see all the people who were outside talking to and checking on their neighbors," she said. "The community really came together to help each other."

No earthquake-related injuries were reported in Benicia, a neighboring city southeast of American Canyon.

An older building in the 900 block of First Street was the only building that was red-tagged in Benicia, according to the city's building division. No other significant structural damages or water main breaks were reported, officials added.